Suggestion: better drag&drop

Support for xplorer² free lite version

Moderators: fgagnon, nikos, Site Mods

User avatar
ZoNi011
Member
Member
Posts: 29
Joined: 2004 Jun 22, 09:13
Location: Serbia

Suggestion: better drag&drop

Post by ZoNi011 »

I would like to see this option:
- normal (left-click) drag&drop = copy
- CTRL+drag&drop = move

(or vice versa - that should be user defined!)

Is that possible in one of next versions?
User avatar
fgagnon
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3737
Joined: 2003 Sep 08, 19:56
Location: Springfield

Post by fgagnon »

???
But you already have the standard windows drag&drop modifiers:
Shift+d&d = move file
Alt+d&d = copy file
(the latter overrides case where std d&d = copy a shortcut to the executable).
User avatar
vserghi
Silver Member
Silver Member
Posts: 309
Joined: 2002 Mar 19, 08:54
Location: UK

Post by vserghi »

This is already possible.

Select a file whilst holding the left button down, you should see a small box with + insideoverlayed on the file/folder, this is as you know a copy operation. If you hold down shift and left mouse button, this turns into a move operation (no overlay) and if you hold down the Alt and the left button, you can create a shortcut (shortcut overlay).

You may not know, but if you right click on a file and at the same time drag across to the another pane you get a context menu with four options:

"Copy"
"Move"
"Create a shortcut"
"Cancel"

Edit: I see fgagnon beat me to it.
Vas
User avatar
ZoNi011
Member
Member
Posts: 29
Joined: 2004 Jun 22, 09:13
Location: Serbia

Post by ZoNi011 »

fgagnon wrote:???
But you already have the standard windows drag&drop modifiers:
Shift+d&d = move file
Alt+d&d = copy file
(the latter overrides case where std d&d = copy a shortcut to the executable).
oops... sorry, I haven't know that :oops:

anyway, that is good enogh!

thanks to you and vserghi (btw, I know that with right click)
ChopperCharles
New Member
Posts: 5
Joined: 2004 Aug 09, 19:34

move/copy

Post by ChopperCharles »

Still, I think it'd be great to have a user-defined move/copy mode.

Mode 1, it works just like Microsoft exporer.
Mode 2, drag and drop ALWAYS moves. You must hold down ctrl to make it copy.
Mode 3, drag and drop ALWAYS copies. You must hold down shift to make it move.

Right-clicking would still work as normal.

I have a ton of drives and removable media devices, and it's really annoying when files are copied when I want them moved and vice-versa. Moving on the same drive and copying to a new drive has been something that annoyed me about Windows all the way back to Win95. It'd be *GREAT* if xplorer2 had a user-selectable mode.

Charles.
User avatar
ZoNi011
Member
Member
Posts: 29
Joined: 2004 Jun 22, 09:13
Location: Serbia

Post by ZoNi011 »

I agree with Charles! :P
nealeh
Member
Member
Posts: 17
Joined: 2004 Jul 27, 11:52

Post by nealeh »

There is one drag & drop difference between Explorer and xplorer2 where I prefer the microsoft version.

With explorer, if you drag a file or folder from the desktop to a branch in the tree, then the target branch becomes highlighted. In xplorer2 this does not happen - you have to trust to your mousing precision to make the move/copy.

xplorer2 *only* highlights the tree branch if you are dragging a file or folder within the xplorer interface. i.e. no highlights if dragging from desktop or windows explorer.
Cheers,
--
Neale
Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children
User avatar
nikos
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 16296
Joined: 2002 Feb 07, 15:57
Location: UK

Post by nikos »

on my PC, the tree hilights the target no matter where you're dragging from
User avatar
fgagnon
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3737
Joined: 2003 Sep 08, 19:56
Location: Springfield

Post by fgagnon »

ditto for me.
Folder destination is hilited in tree when mouseover for d&d from all sources i tried, including:
roxio CD creator, mozilla Firefox, IE, outlook, desktop, ACDSee, winExplorer ...
This on XP2.
...
later checked on w98 & got same proper behaviour.
nealeh
Member
Member
Posts: 17
Joined: 2004 Jul 27, 11:52

Post by nealeh »

OK. I now know why. Windows Explorer / xplorer2 react differently to the display setting 'Show window contents while dragging'. Windows Explorer still triggers the highlight, xplorer2 doesn't (but it would be nice if it could in the next release :-) ).

Menu path to change the setting is: Start> Control Panel> Display> Appearance> Effects> Show window contents while dragging.
Cheers,
--
Neale
Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children
User avatar
JRz
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 560
Joined: 2003 Jun 10, 23:19
Location: NL

Post by JRz »

nealeh wrote:OK. I now know why. Windows Explorer / xplorer2 react differently to the display setting 'Show window contents while dragging'. Windows Explorer still triggers the highlight, xplorer2 doesn't (but it would be nice if it could in the next release :-) ).

Menu path to change the setting is: Start> Control Panel> Display> Appearance> Effects> Show window contents while dragging.
Since you already found the cause, can you please provide the only piece of information you left out: is not highlighting when 'Show window contents while dragging' is OFF or ON :)
Dumb questions are the ones that are never asked :turn:
User avatar
fgagnon
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3737
Joined: 2003 Sep 08, 19:56
Location: Springfield

Post by fgagnon »

checking out the situation in win XP ,,,

winExplorer highlights the destination whether or not the switch is ON
The only difference between ON & OFF in winExplorer is whether the contents are shown being dragged along as:
* {ON} an image-like shadow with names included, or
* {OFF} as an outline-like shadow of a frame without names.
It is quite like what the switch name says -- not as treats the switch.

does not highlight the destination for items being carried in from outside apps, when 'Show window contents while dragging' is OFF; and does not carry along the outline shadow for items selected from its active pane.

While not a functional issue, this omission by X2 makes it difficult to determine the target destination for drops from outside - especially for multiple selections which are carried in with their outline shadow.
Of course, this is only an issue for folks who have this switch turned OFF in windows.
User avatar
nikos
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 16296
Joined: 2002 Feb 07, 15:57
Location: UK

Post by nikos »

and the question is why would anyone want to disable it?
(i didn't even knew it existed as an option!)
User avatar
JRz
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 560
Joined: 2003 Jun 10, 23:19
Location: NL

Post by JRz »

nikos wrote:and the question is why would anyone want to disable it?
(i didn't even knew it existed as an option!)
That's quite simple: performance!!

Turning the switch off on a fairly slow system will improve performance a lot (but you could argue that is not going to be a problem with excellerated graphic cards nowadays).
Dumb questions are the ones that are never asked :turn:
User avatar
vserghi
Silver Member
Silver Member
Posts: 309
Joined: 2002 Mar 19, 08:54
Location: UK

Post by vserghi »

I've always had this option turned off for precisly the reason that JRz gave.

Why do I need to see the contents of the frame when I'm moving it around.

The outline is good enough to see where it is going. In times of bloat-whare, anything that can improve performance is a good thing.
Vas